COELHO CONTRACTING INC
About us
Coelho Contracting Inc. serves all of Eastern New England providing high quality residential and commercial services. With over 18 years of valuable experience, our experts have built a reputation on quality craftsmanship, attention to detail, and most importantly word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.
Business highlights
Services we offer
EXTERIOR CARPENTRY & REPAIRS, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL INTERIOR & EXTERIOR PAINTING, WINDOW REPLACEMENT & COMPLETE ROOFING SERVICES.
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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86% | ||
10% | ||
2% | ||
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2% |
The workers actively scrapped the trim before painting and went back over any areas I had concerns about. The company also had skilled carpenters who were able to replace shingles in advance of the painting. The only place I saw room for improvement was in prompt resolution of the punch list. This took a number of weeks and was not completed until after Thanksgiving.
However, that delay was more than offset by Ms. Coehlo's tremendous flexibility in rescheduling the job when it turned out we did not like the colors we had chosen. The crew had primed most of the house in the selected color when we realized we had made a bad mistake. She reassigned the painters to other jobs while we went through a lengthy color selection process. I really appreciated her willingness to work with us toward a good outcome and mutually agreeable schedule.
The foreman running the job came by at least every other day and was available by telephone. He was very responsive to any concerns we had. He was also willing to have the crew test paint two different trim colors for a final selection. The painters themselves were pleasant to be around and seemed to enjoy working with each other (always a good situation). They took particular care to protect plantings and stonework.
I was pleased with Coehlo's performance and thought the price was fair. I have no reservations about recommending them to others.
The work started right on time but the demolition phase went a bit slower than we expected. The demo crew took time to understand what they were doing before ripping stuff off, which was warranted since there were several layers of previous generations and materials. Very courteous demo team. They also removed various debris from previous jobs that had been piling up, even though they didn't have to. Construction was done at a reasonable pace, and the quality was outstanding. The master carpenter was very courteous and thoughtful, and went over the critical details with us as the job progressed, such that things were done right the first time. Being familiar with construction techniques myself, it was a delight to follow the daily progress and see how the challenges of each phase were properly addressed (and always somewhat better or much better than I would have done it myself, which is a good part of the value). The structural elements are generally oversized so the porch has a very sturdy feel. The finish work is very well put together, for example the decking boards run the full length of the porch to give a pleasant visual appearance, whereas others might have used shorter boards to save a bit of money. Likewise some of the trim corners are mitered in hidden places where it might have been more expedient to use a square cut, so it looks good under to hood too. The railings were hand-made and are nicely proportioned, square and plumb. We have received compliments from neighbors during the job about the quality of the work and the care that went into it, and after the work about the appearance.
The schedule stretched out a bit towards the end, due to a variety of factors. Some of our design changes resulted in extra work along the way, then there was a bit of confusion from the city inspector about specific electrical and trim work they needed to see. In the end, the winter scramble delayed the last few punchlist items, but that is to be expected in this kind of flexible situation. The key point is that we wanted quality first and this is what we got. There are more projects in the pipeline and we would not hesitate to hire Coelho Contracting again.
Contracting to paint the exterior and interior of our house. The price of
Karla?s estimate was somewhat higher than the rest of the estimates, but we are
happy we went with her company. The presentation, communication, and the
estimate itself (done in a very professional manner) set Coelho Contracting
apart from other painters we reviewed. Karla seemed to have an extensive knowledge
of painting products and gave us valuable guidance regarding paint brand and
color choices.
My wife could not decide on the color of the house and we end up changing the one we selected last minute?
Karla was professional all along, giving us suggestions and trying to make the selection easier for us.
Before the painters started the exterior work they covered the ground with protective covers. The same story was inside: the workers were very careful to protect the furniture and the floors from the paint drops. The paint work was outstanding,
the lines were straight and there were no drips anywhere.
We would definitely recommend Coelho Contracting to anyone
who needs the paint job done, and we will be using them in the future.
I was somewhat reluctant to move forward with Coelho Contracting because frankly their price of $2075 seemed quite significant for a few exterior repairs. (Their contract also provided for the "free" warranty repairs, but I never thought the "free" warranty repairs were "free" at all, truth be told.) All that said, Karla Coelho pressured us to move forward on the project because she said spring was here and they were about to start large projects and wanted to make sure we got our warranty work in. Fair enough. So we moved forward with the work.
They sent a carpenter and a painter for 2 days total -- a total of 16 man-hours. The work was adequate, but nothing exceptional. I had three specific issues with the work: (i) when they did exterior repairs, they did not very well match to the existing stain (which is a bit faded), (ii) they did not install composite trim all around an exterior door as stated in the contract (Karla insisted that the contract's use of the word "trim" only referred to the trim and not the door casing, which seemed to me an inappropriate way to interpet the contract); and (iii) we still are getting water in through a window (again, this is the major reason why we contacted them in the first instance!). On items (ii) and (iii), I have tried repeatedly by phone and e-mail to get Karla to address these concerns. No answer. I am glad that I deducted some money from the contract price of $2075 and paid only $1850 -- I purposely withheld $225 because I suspected that Coelho Contracting would not return to honor the remaining composite work around the exterior door. Sure enough, they did not.
To be fair, there were aspects of their work that I think were good -- e.g., they were good about taking some before and after pictures of their work, especially in areas that were not visible from ground level, and, as I said, the general workmanship was adequate. Do I feel like I got excellent value for my $1850? For 16 man hours of painting/carpentry work, absolutely not.
All in all, I think Coelho Contracting is an adequate contractor, but I don't think they are an A-rated player anymore. They are more like a B- or C-rated player. I don't personally think their 5-year warranty is worth very much, so it's not worthwhile to "pay up" for it. Their paint job, like anybody else's, is not going to last 5 years, and when the issues arise, their approach will be to do "touch ups" that put band-aids on things, but don't kid yourself and think for a minute that a 5-year warranty means that your house will look equally good 5 years after their project. One thing to keep in mind is that Coelho Contracting underwent a management/ownership change in the 2008-2009 period, and the primary person who used to sell jobs and deal with issues is no longer at the company. In addition, they used to have an administrative assistant who communicated well on all of the little details surrounding a job, and they no longer have that person either. Overall, I would not recommend doing business with Coelho Contracting. I will certainly not be using them in the future.
They had to completely remove all the old ceramic tile and flatten the old floors to be able to put down my new wood and tile floors. For such a large space (2500sf) they did a good time managing their time and giving me a clear schedule on the progress. Their painting was efficient and surprisingly quick.
They had a lot of work to do and a strict schedule to go own because I was due to open in a few weeks. They were always on time, often early to get their equipment ready and they always had someone onsite who could answer any of my questions. Also, the owner would come by often to check up on the progress.
Given the amount of work and the schedule I was very impressed when we had the center open in time.
I would not think twice about hiring them again. Highly recommended.
Workers were dropped off each day they actually worked and given instructions. They did not speak English so we couldn't bring anything to their attention that was not being done in accordance with the contract and had to call he office. Very, very frustrating.
The work wasn't conducted as stated in the contract. There was an addendum to the contract for additional work on one side of the house which resulted in appx. $4k more and at the end of the project another bill for $1k+ for "work not included in the original contract". There was no proposal or additional addendum for this $1k+ "supposed extras". Seeing as they would not do anything unless it was in writing I can't understand how they would expect us to pay $1k more for "extras" that were not brought to our attention. I would not have paid them the extra $1k but they continued to harass my parents and would not talk with me personally. My parents were quite upset by their phone calls and letters and I was afraid that they would get sick and it is for that reason ONLY they were paid the additional $$.
In my business I have worked with all trades in the construction industry and have never had such a terrible experience and to think they were one of the higher bidders!
I could not in good conscience recommend them to anyone!!!!!!
"As a contractor it is our obligation to inform our clients of all and/or any issues we find while working on the property. While working on the house, we found several areas that needed extra attention, and we brought that issue to the home owner, and he not only authorized the extra work but asked us to complete various other tasks as well. Incurring on the extra charge of $1,060.00, which was disclosed to the home owner, we are very surprised of the comments of this Angie's List member since, we never met her or have any contact with her before or during the project. We pride ourselves in giving excellent customer service. Our office manager is in the office Monday threw Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm to answer any questions any client may have."
Update 01/23/13: I had a complaint.. Eventually the company addressed it and fixed the problem.
"We were hire, by the owner of the home, the project was a large size , including major carpentry work, painting, etc. it require heavy equipment, and machinery. It took a lot of patience and professionalism to be completed. While working in the house the resident have several unpleasant comments and start to use inappropriate language, been very disrespectful and degrading to our crew on site, calling our office with the same treatment. I find this incidents absolutely unacceptable, and I have enormous respect for our crew members for staying calm and act like absolute gentleman during this very difficult situation. It is our best interest to please all of our clients, and we pride ourselves in having the best customer service within the last 11 years. We are proud of all members of our working staff for being hard working and honest. We have tremendous respect for the home owner, who has been managing the project in a very professional and proper manner; it was a pleasure working with her. Please revise the report from the home owner about our company on June 10, 2012 Description Of Work: Repair outside of house, damaged clapboards and siding, front columns, deck plants, window frames and paint. Member Comments: Excellent: always responsive, on time, finished on schedule, excellent workmanship and lovely people. Highly recommended."
The original quote was for about $12,000 for removing the siding, fixing up windows and shingles, replacing gutters, and painting the exterior. The siding and old gutters were gone in a day, but underneath we found that the soffits were beyond repair and there was no flashing along the roof line between the first and second story. Karla wanted to do the soffits right, with all new PVC boards, so the resulting quote pushed the total closer to $25,000.
The carpentry work was done by just one man who was very methodical and thorough. It was a large amount of work, and took almost two weeks to complete, but the result was a huge improvement. After the carpentry work, the painting and gutters were done in a matter of days. Throughout the whole thing, Karla was easy to work with and was very supportive of our desire to get the work prior to the birth of our first child.
Now, one year later the paint job looks as good as the day they completed it. They did a very good job and we have received many complements from neighbors on the workmanship.
In the spring of 2011 I contacted them to inspect the slate roof of my new house, which I had been told must be checked carefully every year, and recommend improvements to avoid ice dams. Karla walked around the house with me and made a good many recommendations. I agreed to all of them. Several months later they still hadn't done anything, so I called again. It was hard to reach anyone but finally they agreed to get the work done. Several months later, still nothing had happened. I called rather urgently and got them to schedule the work. The men who came to do the work had no idea what the detailed recommendations were, and I had not received a list or made my own list. They ended up mainly updating the sealing around all the windows of the house, something we had not originally discussed, and repairing some copper flashing. Much of the original agreement had simply been forgotten. A few weeks later I discovered a leak from a skylight--the kind of thing I had originally asked them to check--and also two tiles that had fallen off the roof. They said they hadn't actually done any checking of the roof, and that they never did tile roofs. That would have been fine, except that checking the tile roof had been one of the main things I'd asked them to do, and we had gone around the house six months earlier looking at the roof and discussing what might or might not need to be done. They referred me to another company, O'Lyn's Roofing, which they said did tile roofs.
As far as I could tell, the work they actually did was fine. Given the time the workers spent, their price was reasonable.
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